Prepare for a negotiation with AI: a pay rise, a job offer or a price

Use it when you are about to ask for a pay rise, answer a job offer, or agree a price with a car dealer or a contractor.

Not when you want the assistant to tell you what you are worth. It can help you practise. The numbers come from outside it.

You need an assistant, two or three dated sources and about 90 minutes. Leave out names and employer details: What not to paste. The steps and times are our suggestion.

For a salary range while you apply, see Job search and interview prep. This page is about the conversation itself.

Why the numbers come from you

• A 2025 peer-reviewed study asked several AI models (the systems behind chatbots) for salary advice for made-up people (personas) differing in traits such as gender: "if we ask the model for salary negotiation advice, we see pronounced bias in the answers", including cases "when salaries for women are substantially lower than for men" (Sorokovikova et al., GeBNLP 2025).
• A second study sent 98,800 prompts (typed requests) to each of four ChatGPT versions. Gender made a statistically significant difference in all four, "although with smaller gaps than for other attributes tested", and the authors "also observed substantial gaps when varying university and major" (Geiger et al., PLOS ONE 2025).

The first study notes that with memory (a feature where the assistant keeps details from past chats), users "do not need to pre-prompt the description of their persona". So leave personal traits out, check what the assistant remembers (AI memory: what it keeps), and take every number from a named, dated source.

Steps

Where the numbers come from. For US pay, the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program "produces employment and wage estimates annually for approximately 830 occupations". For UK pay, the ONS ASHE Table 14 gives earnings by occupation (released 23 October 2025). Both lag, so note the date and add current ads. For building work, the FTC says "Get multiple estimates" and "Don't automatically choose the lowest bidder" (FTC).

Your three lines

• Target: what you will ask for, backed by your sources. Usually your first number.
• Walk-away point: the worst result you would still accept. Below it, you say no.
• Alternative: what you will do if there is no deal, such as stay put, take another offer, or buy elsewhere. Negotiation books call this your BATNA, "a negotiator's best alternative to a negotiated agreement", a term from the book Getting to Yes (Harvard Program on Negotiation).

A better alternative makes your walk-away point easier to hold. One more quote or offer can improve it.

Why name a number early: in three experiments, "whichever party, the buyer or seller, made the 1st offer obtained a better outcome", and "1st offers were a strong predictor of final settlement prices" (Galinsky and Mussweiler, 2001). Treat this as a reason to have your number ready, not a rule to speak first.

The prompts

You are <OTHER_SIDE>. I am about to negotiate <WHAT> with you.
Facts you know: <FACTS>.
Play the role realistically and firmly: push back on my numbers with
the objections someone in your position really uses, and do not give
in early. Stay polite. One turn at a time; wait for my answer.
When I type "stop", leave the role and tell me where I gave ground
without getting anything back.

Replace the following:

• <OTHER_SIDE>: such as my manager, who has a tight budget or a used car salesperson.
• <WHAT>: such as a pay rise for a senior support analyst in Leeds.
• <FACTS>: what the other side would know, and your sourced numbers. Nothing about you personally.

To switch roles in step 5, reply: Now swap. You argue my side using my three lines, and I play the other side.

Here is my case: <MY_CASE>.
1. List the five strongest objections the other side could raise,
   strongest first. For each, say why it is hard to answer.
2. After I write my answer to each, tell me where it is weak.
Do not suggest any new numbers. Use only the numbers in my case.

Replace <MY_CASE> with your three lines, sources and reasons. For step 7, ask for a follow-up under 120 words confirming the agreed numbers, dates and next steps, with no new commitments.

The debrief

Paste your notes and ask: what did I concede, what did I get for it, and what would I say differently?

Worked example (illustrative). Sam takes a pay range from official data and four ads. Target: the top quarter of it. Walk-away: a smaller raise now with a written review in six months. Alternative: a recruiter's interview next month. In role-play the "manager" says the budget is frozen and Sam drops the number. On the second run Sam holds it.

How to tell it worked

• Every number you used has a source and a date you can show.
• You held your first number at least once in role-play.
• It has failed if a number came from the assistant, or you went below your walk-away point without deciding to.

Sources

1. Sorokovikova et al. Surface Fairness, Deep Bias. GeBNLP 2025. Peer-reviewed. Link
2. Geiger et al. Asking an AI for salary negotiation advice is a matter of concern. PLOS ONE, 2025. Peer-reviewed. Link
3. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. OEWS. Official statistics. Link
4. ONS. ASHE Table 14, 2025. Official statistics. Link
5. FTC. How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam, 2022. Government guidance. Link
6. Harvard Program on Negotiation. What is BATNA? Explainer. Link
7. Galinsky and Mussweiler. First offers as anchors. JPSP, 2001. Peer-reviewed. Link

Changes

1. v1.010 Oct 2026first version